...Remarks  on...  UNCATALol 

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The  War  Note  from  Washington 


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Fhe  Rights  and  Wrongs  of 

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AlADE  BY 

Rev.  Dr.  Henry  C.  McCook 

Pastor  of  the 

Tabernacle  Presbyterian  Church  ' 

OF  Philadelphia 


Sabbath,  December  22d,  A.  D.  1895 


Printed  by 

The  Session  of  the  Church 
for 

Private  Circulation 


On  Sabbath  morning  and  evening,  Dr.  McCook,  pastor  of 
the  Tabernacle  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia,  made 
addresses  upon  two  matters  of  great  public  interest,  whose 
sudden  advent  had  startled  the  community  during  the  preced¬ 
ing  week. 

There  has  been  such  a  general  request  for  the  publication  of 
an  authorized  edition  of  these  remarks,  that  the  Session  of  the^ 
Church  has  concluded  to  publish  them  for  private  circulation. 
This  has  been  done  all  the  more  readily,  because  numerous 
reports  thereof,  made  in  various  public  prints,  have  given  in 
several  particulars  an  erroneous  view  of  what  was  actually  said. 


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Philadelphia,  December  27,  A.  D.  1895. 

THE  WAR  NOTE  FROM  WASHINGTON.* 

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Vastly  more  important  than  the  street  railway  strike 
now  agitating  Philadelphia,  are  the  interests  involved 
in  the  message  of  President  Cleveland  concerning  the 

V  » 

.  '  ^  Venezuela  boundary.  The  former  is  a  matter  of  purely 

local  interest,  and  in  a  few  days  will  have  been  for- 
gotten.  The  latter  is  of  world  wide  and  permanent 

rVj  concern. 

V  It  has  excited  anxiety  in  every  nation  in  Christen- 

dom.  It  has  stirred  in  our  own  bosoms  feelings  that 
have  been  slumbering  for  a  generation.  There  is  no 
doubt  at  all  that  the  first  impression  made  by  the  mes¬ 
sage  upon  American  citizens  is  as  favorable  as  it  is 
unanimous.  The  message  breathes  a  spirit  which  was 
vainly  expected  in  the  matter  of  Hawaiian  independ¬ 
ence  and  the  Nicaragua  complications.  For  this 
reason,  surprise  has  been  a  factor  in  evoking  the  gen¬ 
eral  applause  with  which  so  remarkable  and  important 
a  document  has  been  greeted. 

I 

POPUIvAR  BKUKF  in  the  PRESIDENT’S  PATRIOTISM. 

If  any  questionings  were  started  as  to  the  motive 
which  23rompted  the  message;  if  through  the  popular 
applause  there  has  obtruded  the  whispered  query:  Is 


*  Remarks  made  Sunday  morning,  December  22,  A.  D.  1895. 

(3) 


4 


this  only  a  political  pronunciamento;  a  move  upon  the 
chess-board  of  partisan  possibilities? — such  a  thought 
has  been  brushed  aside.  The  conviction  is  general 
and  seemingly  correct  that  President  Cleveland  has 
been  actuated  by  a  simple  and  sincere  patriotism; 
that  he  has  done  his  duty  honestly,  as  he  sees  it,  for 
the  highest  interests  of  the  nation,  both  present  and 
future.  Cheerfully  do  all  parties  concede  this,  and 
others  who  are  as  deeply  concerned  as  ourselves  should 
recognize  the  fact. 

It  is  true,  there  is  ground  to  challenge  the  wisdom 
and  even  the  propriety  of  the  manner  in  which  this 
patriotic  purpose  has  been  carried  out.  It  has  seemed 
to  some  that  interests  so  grave  as  those  which 
depended  upon  the  Executive’s  action,  should  have 
been  approached  less  abruptly,  and  in  language  better 
suited  to  the  diplomatic  temper  and  method.  It  is 
true,  that  some  fear  that  the  great  principle  or  policy 
known  as  the  “  Monroe  Doctrine,”  so  vigorously  set 
forth  in  the  message,  has  been  endangered  by  its  asso¬ 
ciation  with  issues  that  appear  too  trivial  andMistant 
from  the  main  point  concerned.  It  is  true,  that  some 
have  felt  that  an  examination  of  the  facts  upon  which 
congressional  and  popular  judgment  ought  to  be  based, 
should  have  preceded  and  not  have  followed  a  message 
which  seems  to  carry  within  its  bosom  a  latent  bolt  of 
w^ar. 

Nevertheless,  the  heart  of  the  people  without  respect 
of  party,  is  with  their  President.  A  wave  of  pure 
patriotism  has  swept  across  the  continent,  and  the 
ripple  and  dash  of  occasional  partisan  utterances,  have 
been  drowned  in  the  mighty  roar  of  the  popular  tide, 
as  is  the  tinkling  of  the  brooklet  by  the  surge  of  the 
ocean  into  whose  bosom  it  falls. 


5 


11. 

American  Outburst  of  Patriotism  Explained. 

We  are  now  concerned  to  ask :  Whence  this  practical 
unanimity?  It  is  in  part  the  result  of  profound  reflec¬ 
tion  upon  past  experiences.  It  is  in  part  the  instinc¬ 
tive  assertion  of  a  nation’s  sense  of  what  concerns  its 
own  security. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  by  an  incident,  which  the 
events  of  the  last  few  days  have  recalled.  On  that 
memorable  night  when  the  news  thrilled  the  nation 
that  Lee  had  surrendered  at  Appomattox,  I  was  visit¬ 
ing  in  the  Illinois  county  town  where  my  pastoral  life 
began.  I  had  come  up  from  my  mission  pavStorate  in 
St.  Louis  for  a  few  days  of  needed  recreation,  and 
there  the  joyful  intelligence  met  me.  I  was  seated  in 
the  house  of  my  host,  a  respected  elder,  talking  over 
the  great  events  which  had  then  been  drawn  to  a  happy 
conclusion,  when  a  deputation  of  citizens  called  at  the 
house  to  say  that  I  was  wanted  in  the  Public  Square. 
At  once,  I  responded.  I  found  the  central  opening 
around  the  court  house  crowded  with  masses  of  men 
and  women.  Bonfires  burned  at  every  corner.  A 
rude  platform  of  store  boxes  had  been  erected  from 
which  an  orator  was  addressing  the  people.  I  was  led 
to  the  front,  and  the  intimation  given  that  my  turn 
should  come  next.  At  last  the  time  came  when  I  must 
step  upon  the  platform,  and  face  that  great  crowd  of 
jubilant  fellow  citizens.  Cheer  upon  cheer  greeted 
me,  and  yet  I  never  carried  a  more  anxious  heart  to  a 
public  duty.  Do  you  ask  why?  I  had  resolved  to 
risk  the  popularity  of  the  moment  and  make  a  plea  for 
peace.  For  peace?  Yes!  Let  me  explain.  Victory  had 
been  in  the  air  for  the  last  month,  and  I  knew  that  it 


6 


was  a  matter  not  only  of  general  conversation,  but  of 
fixed  purpose  that  when  the  war  against  rebellion  was 
ended,  there  were  two  great  national  wrongs  to  be 
redressed  by  another  war. 

One  lay  to  the  southwest  in  Mexico,  where  Napoleon 
III. ,  taking  advantage  of  our  embarrassment,  had  estab- 
lished  an  Imperial  Government,  contrary  to  the  tradi¬ 
tion  and  protests  of  our  people.  It  was  the  lodgment 
of  a  strong  European  power  upon  our  borders  with  a 
government  hostile  to  the  spirit  of  our  Republic,  and 
with'  a  likelihood  of  establishing  an  overshadowing 
force  which  would  be  a  permanent  threat  to  our  peace 
and  prosperity.  The  victorious  soldiers  of  the  West, 
by  regiments  and  brigades,  had  solemnly  vowed  that 
Napoleon’s  imperial  bantling  government  should  be 
driven  from  the  Mexican  frontier ! 

The  other  wrong  to  be  remedied  la3Mo  the  north  and 
southeast  of  us.  Every  Union  soldier  knew  that  he 
had  been  fighting  not  only  the  brave  and  determined 
men  of  the  South,  whose  chivalric  valor  formed  the 
one  bright  feature  in  their  uprising  against  the  Union^ 
but  also  that  secret  ally  of  rebellion  whose  flag  waved 
from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Vancouver’s 
Island  over  the  Canadian  frontier.  The  broad  oSicial 
arrow  of  England  had  faced  him  on  many  a  cannon 
when  he  had  pressed  up  death-strewn  heights  and 
mounted  the  barricades  held  by  his  rebellious  fellow 
countrymen. 

Canada  had  been  the  centre  from  which  numerous 
hostile  plots,  agitations  and  influences  had  flowed  across 
the  border,  to  hurt  and  hamper  the  cause  of  liberty. 
Beyond  our  Eastern  frontier  from  Nassau  and  British 
West  Indian  ports,  blockade  runners  for  four  years 
had  filled  Southern  ports  with  munitions  of  war, 
which  joined  with  Confederate  valor  to  prolong  the 
struggle. 


pm 

/ 


Multitudes  of  men  in  our  victorious  hosts  of  the 
WOvSt  and  Southwest,  had  said  or  sworn  by  all  above 
and  beneath  them,  that  when  the  rebellion  was  sub¬ 
dued,  the  proud  banner  of  St.  George  should  no  longer 
wave  upon  North  American  territory !  And  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  they  believed  that  the  Confederate 
soldiers,  so  late  their  antagonists,  would  be  their  com¬ 
rades  in  that  quarrel. 

Do  you  ask  why  our  veterans  felt  thus?  It  was 
because  they  knew  by  bitter  experience  that  alien  and 
unfriendly  national  powers,  buttressed  and  bulwarked 
around  our  frontiers,  dominated  by  European  and  hos¬ 
tile  governments  as  strong  as  or  stronger  than  our¬ 
selves,  were  a  constant  threat  to  our  liberty  and  our 
Union. 

It  was  because  they  feared  that  these  powers  would 
cause  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past  they  had  caused, 
incalculable  loss  of  life  and  property  to  the  land  whose 
Union  they  had  sought  to  destroy,  and  whose  hOvStile 
purpose  had  only  been  prevented  by  the  costly  gift  of 
America's  choicest  lives,  and  billions  of  her  treasure. 

This  is  why  I  stood,  that  night,  in  the  midst  of  the 
jubilant  crowd  and  lifted  up  my  voice  for  peace.  I 
plead  with  an  earnestness  which  I  have  rarely  felt  or 
shown,  that  our  country  should  not  issue  from  the 
horrors  of  one  conflict  to  be  plunged  into  another.  I 
appealed  from  the  powers  of  the  sword  to  the  powers 
of  diplomacy,  and  urged  my  countrymen  in  that  hour 
of  joy  to  return  to  the  ways  of  peace,  and  leave  the 
wise  and  good  Lincoln  and  his  advisers  to  adjust 
questions  of  national  rights  and  redress  our  national 
wrongs. 

Perhaps  you  will  wish  me  to  pause  a  moment  to  tell 
the  issue  of  that  address.  A  deep  silence  fell  upon 
the  crowd.  Mutterings  arose  here  and  there,  espe¬ 
cially  from  a  knot  of  soldiers  home  on  furlough,  who 


8 


istood  near  the  stand.  Evidently  the  discourse  was  a 
disappointment.  It  ruffled  against  the  prevailing  sen¬ 
timent.  But  after  the  manner  of  an  American  audi¬ 
ence,  the  people  listened  patiently,  and  before  I  was 
done,  a  change  had  evidentl}"  come  upon  their  spirit. 
It  was  not  until  closing  my  address  that  I  touched  in 
detail  upon  the  occasion  that  had  called  us  together, 
and  then  the  suppressed  enthusiasm  broke  forth  afresh. 
While  the  speaker  who  preceded  me,  now  the  Hon. 
Judge  Lawrence  Weldon,  of  Washington  City,  was 
speaking,  a  happy  impulse  had  seized  me,  and  stand¬ 
ing  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  and  using  the  top  of  my 
hat  for  a  writing  desk,  I  had  jotted  down  a  few  verses 
of  a  Joy  Song  to  the  tune  of  the  well-known  Hallelujah 
or  “John  Brown”  chorus.  I  closed  my  speech  by 
reading  this,  and  proposed  that  we  should  sing  it 
together.  And  we  sang  it! — sang  it  till  the  stars  in 
the  blue  above  us  seemed  to  glitter. 

When  I  had  finished  and  was  about  to  descend  from 
the  platform,  I  stepped  most  unexpectedly  into  the 
brawny  arms  of  blue  coated  men,  and  ere  I  knew  it, 
was  upon  a  pulpit  which  never  before  nor  since  have  I 
had  the  honor  and  dissatisfaction  to  occupy,  namel}’: 
he  shoulders  of  men.  For  a  while,  amidst  the  shout¬ 
ing  and  laughter  of  the  crowd,  I  was  carried  around 
the  square.  Thus  ended  that  Plea  for  Peace  and  Song 
of  Victory. 

We  know  how  Louis  Napoleon’s  Mexican  imperial 
structure  toppled  like  a  house  of  blocks  at  the  touch 
of  our  victorious  government.  But  the  other  wrong? 
— has  it  ever  been  righted?  Has  it  ever  been  atoned 
for?  Has  it  ever  been  even  regretted? 

Brethren  and  friends  it  is  that  old  fear  and  feeling 
of  the  war  veterans  which  lives  through  the  message 
of  President  Cleveland.  It  is  that  feeling,  though  it 
may  be  almost  unconscioush^  which  vibrates  along 


9 


the  nerve  of  every  patriot  beneath  our  flag  to-day,  who 
has  said:  We  will  stand  by  the  doctrine  of  President 
Cleveland’s  message,  at  whatever  cost! 


III. 

The  American  View  Stated. 

There  is  a  feeling  which  we  cannot  suppress  that 
our  mother  country  and  sister  nation,  is  already  too 
dangerously  dominant  around  our  frontiers.  She 
threatens  our  entire  Northern  border  by  a  belt  of  ter¬ 
ritory  which  spans  the  continent  from  east  to  west. 
By  the  fact  that  these  possessions  jut  upon  the  Pacific 
Ocean  between  our  Alaskan  Territory  and  the  borders 
of  Washington  and  Oregon,  she  threatens  our  Western 
coast.  On  the  northeast  it  is  the  same  at  and  around 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  On  the  southeast 
her  West  Indian  possessions  and  fortresses  are  the  pos¬ 
sible  radiant  points  of  national  danger  in  the  future, 
as  they  were  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion,  when  they 
came  near  destroying  us  by  a  perilously  narrow  mar¬ 
gin.  If,  now,  this  mighty  power,  whose^  ancestral 
vigor  and  pluck  we  know  so  well;  whose  vast  abilities 
to  harm  us  we  so  thoroughly  understand,  shall  gain  a 
greater  foothold  to  the  south  of  us  among  the  Repub¬ 
lics  of  South  America;  if  she  shall  be  able  to  command 
such  a  waterway  as  the  Orinoko  River,  for  example, 
what  is  to  stay  her  progress  across  the  Southern  con¬ 
tinent?  What  can  satisfy  the  illimitable  greed  of  this 
land-absorbing  kingdom,  that  licks  up  nations  as 
Behemoth  the  rivers? 

How  long  will  it  be  ere  we  shall  be  hemmed  in  and 
enclosed  round  about,  so  that  from  ever}''  point  of  the 
compass,  against  every  foot  of  our  territory,  north, 


lO 


south,  east  and  west,  from  the  Atlantic,  from  the 
Pacific,  from  the  Caribbean  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
the  iron  clad  floating  forts  of  brave  and  strong  old 
Britain  can  flock  forth  with  their  enginery  of  destruc¬ 
tion  to  beat  out  the  life  and  break  down  the  liberties 
of  the  United  States  of  America?  That  is  the  convic¬ 
tion,  that  is  the  sentiment  which  throbs  through  the 
national  utterance  evoked  by  President  Cleveland’s 
message. 

The  issue  presents  itself  to  the  men  of  this  genera¬ 
tion  in  somewhat  the  same  light  as  did  the  Stamp  Tax 
to  the  founders  of  Independence.  The  right  to  levy 
a  penny  tax  implies  the  right  to  levy  a  pound,  our 
fathers  said.  It  is  not  so  much  the  special  act  that 
concerns  us,  as  its  consequences;  not  so  much  the 
pecuniary  value,  as  the  principle  involved  therein.  So 
with  the  aggressions  of  European  powers  on  American 
territory.  The  right  to  seize  a  hundred  square  miles 
implies  the  right  to  take  a  thousand,  or  a  hundred 
thousand.  The  right  to  seize  a  river’s  mouth  implies 
the  right  to  absorb  all  that  lies  along  its  banks  to 
the  heart  of  the  continent.  Ay,  and  to  descend  the 
watershed  westward  to  the  Pacific  and  grasp  and  hold 
its  coast. 

This  will  account  for  what  seems  a  passionate  and 
almost  hysterical  outburst  of  national  sentiment  and 
assertion.  We  are  not  fanatics;  we  are  not  trivial  and 
excitable;  we  are  not  ignorant,  crude,  with  that  scant 
control  of  emotions  characteristic  of  semi -barbarous 
nations,  or  of  an  undeveloped  civilization,  as  a  New 
York  journal  has  ventured  to  assert.  The  mighty 
tidal  swell  of  popular  feeling  is  due  to  convictions  and 
instincts  which  lie  and  long  have  lain  within  every 
honest  and  patriotic  American  heart. 

^*Why  do  Americans  hate  England?”  our  British 
friends  have  asked.  We  do  not  hate  Britons  as  Britons. 


We  honor,  love  and  admire  them  as  men.  We  do  dis¬ 
like  and  dread  their  traditional  governmental  policy, 
and  we  have  good  reason  to  do  so.  There  are  two 
Englands,  like  the  twins  Jacob  and  Esau  of  old,  in 
the  womb  of  that  great  Empire.  One  we  love  and 
open  our  hearts  and  arms  thereto;  the  other  we  dread 
and  must  guard  against,  and  if  needs  be  oppose. 

This  presentation  of  the  American  view  of  the  situa¬ 
tion  is  not  made  in  a  spirit  of  hostility,  or  with  a  view 
to  foment  prejudices  or  passions  already  too  warm.  It 
is  made  wholly  in  the  interests  of  peace.  For  no  per¬ 
manent  peace  can  exist  between  America  a7id  Great 
Britain  which  is  not  based  upon  a  clear ^  full  understand- 
ing  of  the  unalterable  attihide  of  that  American  convic¬ 
tion  which  vitalizes  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

No  composure  which  does  not  recognize  this  would 
be  a  settlement,  but  only  a  postponement  of  the  inevit¬ 
able  controversy.  It  would  be  to  daub  with  untem¬ 
pered  mortar;  to  cry  peace,  peace!  when  there  is  no 
peace. 

What  I  am  pleading  for  is  a  settlement  based  on 
mutual  understanding ;  a  peace  which  shall  not  only  be 
honorable^  but  permanerit. 


IV. 

How  Pkack  May  Bk  Skcured. 

We  are  not  to  stop  here;  a  solemn  duty  faces  us. 
We  must  solve  the  question:  How  shall  we  make  good 
our  conviction  of  national  safety  and  honor?  Three 
possible  courses  lie  before  us:  diplomacy,  arbitration 
and  war. 

In  the  name  of  God  and  humanity,  let  the  last 
named  be  now  and  ever  the  last  resort  I  But  we  are 


12 


told  that  arbitration  has  been  urged  long  and  diligently 
and  has  been  flatly  and  finally  refused.  We  infer  that 
diplomacy  has  done  its  utmost  to  secure  a  different 
result  but  has  failed.  Failed!  Why? 

Our  ambassador  to  England  lies  to-day  under  im¬ 
pending  censure  of  Congress  for  partisan  arraignment 
of  his  countrymen  in  public  addresses;  for  heaping 
high  contempt  upon  the  larger  part  and  the  long  estab¬ 
lished  polic}^  of  a  nation  which  he  is  commissioned  to 
represent.  We  could  have  forgiven  him  his  alleged 
truckling  to  British  opinion,  had  he  used  his  vantage 
as  a  friendly  sympathizer  and  most  graciously  received 
person  to  smooth  the  asperities  of  the  threatened  situa¬ 
tion,  and  to  convince  his  complaisant  friends  the  Brit¬ 
ish  courtiers  and  rulers,  of  the  seriousness  and  blood 
earnestness  of  Americans  on  matters  at  issue. 

Had  the  cool  heads  and  warm  hearts  of  the  Britons 
understood  how  keenly  our  nerves  are  strained,  and  how 
firmly  and  unanimously  our  minds  are  bent  on  this 
national  policy,  knowm  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  it  is 
incredible  that  they  would  have  risked  a  rupture,  with 
its  attendant  horrors  and  loss,  rather  than  accept  the 
honorable,  reasonable,  customary  and  Christian  mode 
of  arbitration.  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  had  Lord 
Salisbury  known  before  he  sent  his  famous  note  w'hat 
he  now  knows,  that  note  would  never  have  been 
written. 

Our  ambassador  has  failed,  do  you  tell  us?  Then 
let  us  have  an  ambassador  whose  gifts  are  equal  to  his 
graces;  whose  ofiicial  deeds  can  win  English  favor  as 
thoroughly  as  have  his  unoflicial  words,  and  who  will 
not  know  such  a  word  as  ‘  Hail.  Must  the  world’s 
peace  lie  at  the  mercy  of  an  indolent  or  incompetent 
ambassador?  Ay,  but  it  is  not  so  much  American 
diplomacy  as  English  statesmanship  that  has  failed! 
Then  let  the  British  nation  join  us  in  a  demand  that 


13 


this  matter  shall  go  to  an  arbitration  court.  Let  them 
understand  that  Lord  Salisbury  has  been  playing  with 
dynamite;  that  he  has  trifled  with  the  sensibilities  of  a 
nation;  scouted  and  sneered  at  the  accepted  historic 
policy  of  a  Power  which  has  at  least  shown  its  right 
to  have  a  policy  in  the  Americas.  Let  Britain  ask 
Lord  Salisbury  and  his  advisers  to  recast  their  diplo¬ 
macy,  retrace  their  steps,  and  skilled  as  they  are  in 
such  affairs,  show  the  people  a  bloodless  path  to  peace. 

Arbitration  means  the  possibility  of  right  on  either 
side;  the  possibility  of  wrong  on  either  side.  Both 
America  and  Britain  are  too  great  in  all  the  highest 
attributes  of  nations,  to  be  unwilling  to  concede  this 
much.  It  is  only  the  smallest  men  and  the  pettiest 
powers  who  enwrap  themselves  in  their  pride  of  opin¬ 
ion,  and  refuse  to  acknowledge  that  they  can  do  or 
have  done  wrong. 

The  wisdom,  humanity  and  Christian  piety  of  these 
two  nations  should  unite  to  declare  that  on  such  an 
issue  as  this  there  shall  be  no  w^ar.  If  war  shall  ever 
be  waged  betw^een  Great  and  “Greater  Britain,  “  let 
it  at  least  be  for  something  worthy  the  dignity  of 
such  great  nations.  To  fight  over  a  disputed  boundary 
line!  It  would  be  a  shame  to  British  and  American 
diplomacy,  a  stain  upon  our  wisdom  I  a  crime  against 
humanity!  a  sin  against  every  interest  of  the  two 
nations  concerned,  for  which  the  future  would  find  no 
forgiveness  and  no  excuse. 

V. 

Watch!  for  War  is  Possibtk. 

I  rest  but  lightly  on  the  oft  quoted  phrase:  Blood  is 
thicker  than  water,  and  the  assertion  that  two  great 
English  speaking  nations  can  never  again  be  at  war. 


.  14 


The  greatest  civil  war  of  modern  times  is  not  yet  a 
single  generation  behind  us,  and  it  was  fought 
between  men  who  spoke  the  same  English  tongue,  and 
were  born  beneath  the  same  flag.  Within  the  period 
of  a  generation  the  American  colonies  and  the  new 
Republic  were  twice  engaged  in  war  with  the  Mother 
Country ;  and  thirty  years  ago  Britain  carried  on  active 
though  unofficial  war  against  our  Union.  More  than 
once  the  balance  trembled  toward  open  war,  so 
evenly  poised  that  a  feather  might  have  turned  the 
scale  either  way.  It  was  England’s  noble  Queen — 
God  bless  her  and  prolong  her  reign  ! — whose  Chris¬ 
tian  heart  and  sovereign  influence  weighted  the  scale 
toward  peace,  or  official  war  would  then  have  been 
waged. 

Let  us  not'  deceive  ourselves!  War  can  easily  be 
fomented  between  Britain  and  America.  The  smolder¬ 
ing  embers  of  strife  are  many  and  are  widely  spread. 
It  will  demand  all  the  wisdom,  and  all  the  self-control, 
and  all  the  Chirstian  character  of  which  we  are  pos¬ 
sessed,  to  save  us  now  or  in  the  near  future  from  the 
awful  calamity  of  a  conflict  upon  sea  and  land.  Do 
not  say,  ‘‘There  is^no  danger  I”  So  men  talked  thirty- 
five  years  ago,  until  Sumter’s  guns  dissolved  the  illu¬ 
sion.  “Oh,  but  England  will  back  down!”  Britt¬ 
ains  are  a  brave,  proud  people,  and  not  of  the  down¬ 
backing  kind.  It  is  folly  to  think  or  talk  otherwise. 
“But  she  has  too  great  interests  at  stake!”  Her 
interests  are  no  greater  than  our  own,  and  she  will 
risk  them  as  freely  as  ourselves. 

It  becomes  us,  therefore,  to  address  ourselves  with 
all  earnestness  to  compose  angry  passions,  and  promote 
policies  of  peace. 

What  shall  we  do?  We  can  at  least  pray  God  to 
spread  again  over  this  great  world  in  these  closing 
days  of  the  Advent  season,  the  wings  of  His  celestial 


15 


messengers,  and  drop  down  upon  us,  as  we  sing  our 
Christmas  carols,  the  benediction  of  the  old  time  peace 
of  Bethlehem. 

We  can  control  our  tempers.  We  can  cease  to  nag 
and  fret  and  irritate  and  anger  one  another  by  unjust 
and  unkind  cuts  and  flings  in  public  speech  and  public 
writing.  We  may  recall,  and  we  ought  to  recall  all 
the  common  ties  that  bind  us,  not  simply  of  language, 
but  of  literature,  of  origin,  of  commerce,  of  philan¬ 
thropy,  and  of  religion. 

Many  of  us  have  warm  friends  on  the  other  side, 
whom  we  cherish  as  among  the  best  loved  and  most 
highly  valued  of  our  friends.  Let  thCvSe  gentle  bonds 
of  friendship,  and  kinship,  and  association  in  common 
service  and  research,  draw  to-day  amidst  these  agita¬ 
tions  with  their  utmost  power,  and  help  to  hold  our 
hearts  together  and  withhold  our  hands  from  violence. 

Let  us  think  too,  not  only  of  the  times  in  which  we 
have  been  widely  apart  in  our  policies  and  actions,  but 
of  the  times  when  our  souls  have  flowed  together  in 
most  friendly  sympathy. 


VI. 

Two  Nations,  One  Heart — The  Prince  of 
Waees  and  President  Garfield. 

Let  us  think  of  the  days  at  Sandringham,  when  the 
successor  to  the  throne  of  Britain  lay  sick,  as  men 
feared,  unto  death.  English  prayers  in  every  cathedral 
and  church,  and  chapel,  from  Landes  End  to  John 
O'Groat,  in  every  colony  and  imperial  holding  beneath 
the  sun,  were  offered  up  to  God  for  the  saving  of  that 
precious  life. 

Was  America  silent  then  ? 


i6 


No!  Prayers  for  the  Prince  of  Wales  were  offered 
ill  every  sanctuary  and  in  every  home  side  by  side 
with  prayers  for  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
Nay,  with  the  true  instinct  of  kindly  humanity,  sor¬ 
row  was  given  the  preference,  and,  before  our  prayers 
for  the  President,  God  was  supplicated  to  save  the 
Prince. 

Then  flowed  together  the  hearts  of  two  great  people* 
and  the  true  kinship  thereof  was  made  manifest  in 
that  hour  of  sorrow.  When  the  tidings  came  that  the 
power  of  disease  had  been  broken,  and  the  sick  Prince 
had  passed  on  toward  convalescence,  the  joy  bells  that 
rang  and  rang  from  tower  and  steeple  in  merry  England, 
were  echoed  and  re-echoed  among  the  hills  and  moun¬ 
tains  and  over  the  broad  prairie  of  America,  till  the 
Atlantic  sang  to  the  Pacific,  and  the  Takes  shouted  to 
the  Gulf  the  gladsome  refrain:  ‘^Praise  God  from 
whom  all  blessings  flow!” 

Years  w^ent  by,  and  in  the  inscrutable  Providence 
of  God,  the  American  nation  hung  in  deep  suspense 
above  the  suffering  couch  of  President  Garfield. 
Tong  and  weary  were  the  months  v;e  waited  and 
prayed,  and  hoped  and  feared,  until  hope  deferred 
had  made  our  hearts  sick. 

Were  w^e  alone  in  our  grief? 

No,  no!  The  days  of  Sandringham  had  come  again, 
but  with  reversal  of  the  tide  of  sympathy,  and  with 
an  intensity  keener  and  deeper  than  had  ever  been 
knowm.  Once  more  we  were  two  Nations  with  One 
Heart ! 

What  were  the  utterances  that  Americans  heard  from 
the  other  side?  What  voice  did  Britons  send  across 
the  separating  sea?  When  all  was  over,  and  the 
national  obsequies  were  done,  who  did  not  find  his 
eyes  moistened  and  his  heart  stirred  with  profound 
emotion  at  the  tidings  which  came  from  Great  Britain? 


17 


What  a  revelation  it  was  of  the  tenderness  that  beat 
for  us  underneath  those  hearts  of  English  oak!  Won¬ 
derful  in  its  pathos,  wonderful  in  its  sincerity  and 
power,  w^as  that  plaintive  wail  which  sounded  through 
the  sad  sea  waves: 

“O  Jonathan,  slain  in  the  high  places!  I  am  dis¬ 
tressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan!” 

Ay,  and  we  could  finish  the  text  and  call  back 
through  our  blinding  tears:  “Very  pleasant  hast  thou 
been  unto  me:  thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful,  passing 
the  love  of  w^omen !”  (2  Sam.  i.  xxxvi.  ) 

Thus  spake  John  to  Jonathan,  and  Jonathan  answered 
to  John  in  those  days  of  the  Garfield  mourning.  We 
wondered,  and  we  said  in  our  hearts,  is  this  the  Eng¬ 
land  of  the  days  when  Garfield  fought  at  Chicamauga? 
Candor  bade  us  say  that  the  memory  of  those  days 
lingered  with  us,  a  root  of  bitterness.  Ever  and  anon 
the  Alabama  would  seem  to  start  out  of  the  horizon 
and  sail  across  our  vision,  leaving  the  sea  between 
us  red  with  her  wake  of  fire  and  blood.  Beneath  the 
guns  of  the  Kearsarge  the  English  Alabama,  with  her 
English  crew  and  English  guns,  went  down  in  the 
sight  of  the  English  coast  in  the  waters  of  the  English 
Channel.  But  oh,  our  Mother  Country!  The  very 
memory  of  the  Alabama  went  down  into  deeper  depths, 
into  depths  of  oblivion  beneath  that  tidal  wave  of  kindly 
grief  and  love,  of  sisterly,  of  motherly  tenderness  and 
sympathy  that  through  all  those  days,  rolled  from 
ofif  thy  green  shores! 

Our  assassinated  President  has  faded  into  Mother 
Earth —“dust  to  dust.  ’  ’  The  flowers  which  thy  good 
Queen  laid  upon  his  bier  have  withered — “ashes  to 
ashes!”  But  their  fragrance  shall  be  as  fadeless  as 
the  name  of  him  whose  virtues  they  honored.  Hence¬ 
forth,  when  the  vision  of  our  martyred  Garfield  shall 
rise  above  the  horizon  of  memory,  he  will  stand  before 


i8 


us  bearing  in  his  hands  the  flowers  of  the  English 
Queen,  the  symbol  and  oblation  of  fraternity  and  peace ! 

Thus  we  felt  in  those  sad  days.  That  strong  con- 
solation  and  sympathy  of  our  mother  land,  the  frag¬ 
rance  of  that  floral  offering  of  England’s  Queen  comes 
to  us  this  day;  and  in  its  sweetness,  we  will  remember 
the  tenderer  side  of  Britain,  and  put  it  over  against  the 
words  of  scorning  lately  spoken. 

It  shall  silence  our  indignation,  it  shall  temper  our 
heats;  it  shall  breathe  peace  upon  our  passions.  These 
are  past  things  which  we  may  remember.  They  are 
possibilities  in  the  future!  The  heart  of  England  has 
not  changed.  The  heart  of  America  has  not  changed. 
We  areas  truly  one  to-day  as  ever,  in  the  secret  depths 
of  our  souls.  Let  us  try  to  understand  one  another. 
Let  us  cherish  the  trust  that  the  hands  of  John  and 
Jonathan  shall  again  be  clasped  across  the  broad  Atlan¬ 
tic  in  friendly  greeting,  though  let  us  hope  not  in 
sympathetic  sorrow.  Then  above  them  shall  hang  the 
Angel  Host  of  the  Advent,  to  drop  flowers  of  peace, 
and  sing  songs  of  peace,  and  speak  as  from  God  a 
benediction  of  peace  upon  nations  that  ought  to  be  one 
forever  in  Holy  Crusade  against  national  wrongs,  and 
for  a  wider  liberty  and  higher  civilization  in  every 
land,  until  the  Empire  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  shall  be 
established  from  pole  to  pole. 


THE  RIGHTS  AND  WRONGS  OF  MOTOR  MEN,* 


Into  the  glad  melody  of  the  Christmas  joj^-bells,  and 
the  sweet  echoes  of  the  angels^  song  of  peace,  there 
have  come  the  discordant  clamor  of  riot  in  our  streets, 
and  a  note  of  threatened  war  from  Washington.  Our 
citizens  have  been  startled  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
heyday  of  holiday  business  and  Christmas  activities, 
as  by  a  thunderbolt  out  of  an  untroubled  sky. 

For  many  years  no  crisis  has  faced  our  citizens, 
comparable  in  interest  and  possible  importance  to  that 
which  has  thus  been  suddenly  thrust  upon  us.  One 
question  needs  to  be  asked  by  every  citizen  and 
patriot:  What  is  the  right  of  these  matters?  ' 

In  asking  as  in  answering  that  question,  one  must 
always  allow  for  diversity  of  honest  judgment  in  the 
natural  conflict  of  individual  and  national  interests, 
pushed  with  no  worse  or  more  aggressive  desire  than 
the  ordinary  purpose  to  promote  one’s  own  interests 
in  the  best  manner  possible.  Moreover,  the  wisest 
men  have  erred,  and  will  continue  to  err.  Neither 
president  nor  premier,  neither  capitalist  nor  laborer  is 
infallible.  Further,  movements,  which  in  themselves 
are  along  lines  of  rectitude  and  duty,  are  liable  to  be 
marred  by  outbreaks  of  human  passion,  disfigured  by 
methods  which  no  good  citizen  can  sanction.  Never^ 
theless,  we  must  do  our  best;  and  as  becomes  sterling 
manhood,  seek  to  know  w^hat  our  part  should  be  in 
solving  problems  so  grave  as  those  now  before  us. 

What  are  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  conductors  and 
motormen  on  our  street  railway  systems?  Is  there 


*  Remarks  made  Sunday  evening,  December  22,  A.  D.  1895, 

(19) 


20 


any  justification  for  the  present  strike?  Or,  at  least, 
are  there  grievances  which  ought  to  be  remedied,  and 
which  justify  remedial  proceedings? 

You  are  entitled  to  hear  your  pastor's  opinions, 
though  he  takes  it  for  granted  that  they  will  not  be 
endorsed  b}^  all  who  hear  them.  But  he  has  never 
sought  to  train  his  congregation  into  an  unthinking 
sodality,  with  servile,  intellectual  deference  to  his 
judgment  and  public  utterances.  He  respects  the  honest 
manliness  of  private  judgment  among  his  friends 
and  parishioners,  and  is  proud  to  believe  that  a  like 
respect  is  held  toward  his  own  opinions,  even  by 
those  who  differ  from  him.  He  will,  therefore,  speak 
freel3\ 

On  general  principles,  my  sympathies  and  convic¬ 
tions  are  with  the  men  of  the  street  railwa}^  service. 
They  have  erred  in  the  time,  if  not  in  the  method 
chosen  for  asserting  their  rights  and  a  united  effort  to 
correct  their  wrongs.  It  would  have  been  wiser, 
kinder,  in  every  wa^^  better  had  they  waited  until  after 
the  rush  of  Christmas  trade,  when  the  social  and  busi¬ 
ness  interests  of  the  public  would  not  have  received  so 
severe  a  blow  by  the  sto^Dping  of  transportation. 

The}'  have  erred  in  not  placing  their  case  in  the 
hands  of  citizens  of  Philadelphia;  men  of  their  own 
number,  instead  of  calling  to  their  aid,  professional 
representatives  from  an  alien  community.  Though, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  claim  that  their  own  chosen 
spokesman  w^as  refused  a  hearing. 

It  needs  hardly  be  said  that  those  who  have  sanc¬ 
tioned  or  practiced  violence  of  any  sort,  have  not  only 
erred,  but  have  grievously  offended  against  the  laws 
of  God,  of  the  City  and  State,  and  the  interests  of  their 
owm  associates.  Yet  it  ought  to  be  said,  for  it  seems 
to  be  the  truth,  that  the  number  of  strikers  thus  charge¬ 
able,  is  small. 


21 


I. 

Thus  much  said,  have  the  motormen  real  grievances 
justifying  some  sort  of  united  endeavor  to  correct  them  ? 
Undoubtedly  they  have.  The  most  prominent  of  these 
are  the  following:  First,  the  right  to  organize  into  a 
union,  looking  to  the  relief,  benefit,  advancement, 
and  protection  of  its  members,  has  been  forbidden  and 
its  exercise  hindered  and  punished  by  discharge.  To 
deny  this  right  is  to  deny  the  commonest  privilege  of 
an  American  citizen.  The  question  has  been  substan¬ 
tially  settled  long  ago;  though  our  laws  are  not  quite 
as  clear  and  equal  in  this  regard  as  are  the  laws,  say, 
of  England.  In  that  country  the  right  of  labor  to 
organize  for  lawful  purposes  is  now  undisputed.  Such 
a  challenge  thereof  as  has  been  made  by  the  Union 
Traction  Company,  would  scarcely  have  been  dreamed 
of  in  London;  and  had  it  been  attempted,  every  arm 
of  the  national  and  municipal  government  would 
have  been  thrust  forth  at  once  to  defend  the  workmen’s 
sodality  against  those  who  sought  to  deprive  them  of 
their  inherent  privileges  as  freemen.  Is  labor  any  less 
to  be  honored  and  privileged  in  this  Great  Republic? 
If  so,  then  let  us  cease  our  boasting  of  libert^q  equality 
and  fraternity;  of  our  advanced  civilization,  our 
superior  love  of  liberty,  and  our  protection  of  the  rights 
of  man  as  man.  Labor  unions  have  been  sadly  mis¬ 
used,  and  have  been  made  and  still  are  made  instru¬ 
ments  of  oppression  and  injustice,  directed  chiefly 
against  laborers  themselves,  and  not  infrequently 
against  the  employers.  In  such  wrong-doing,  they 
ought  to  be  opposed  by  all  the  powers  of  society. 
But  the  right  of  union  for  lawful  ends  cannot  be 
denied.  Like  the  ancient  guilds  of  England  and  of  the 
American  colonies,  the  labor  unions  of  to-day  are 
founded  in  the  guaranteed  rights  of  citizens. 


22 


If  all  such  organizations  were  to  be  conducted  in 
the  proper  spirit,  there'can  be  little  doubt  that  they 
would  minister  to  the  common  interests  of  employer 
and  employe  and  would  become  bulwarks  of  peace 
to  the  community.  The  aim  of  capitalists  and  all 
good  citizens  should  be,  not  to  suppress,  but  to  direct 
and  elevate  such  societies  of  laboring  men.* 

The  very  name  of  the  great  corporation  that  occu¬ 
pies  nearly  all  the  highways  of  Philadelphia,  implies 
the  right  of  its  members  to  form  a  **  union,  ’’  to  main¬ 
tain  their  own  interests.  They  have  done  so, 'as  many 
wise  and  good  men  believe,  to  the  detriment  of  the 
city’s  interests  in  every  regard.  With  what  consis¬ 
tency  can  they  say  to  their  men :  We  will  not  allow 
you  to  form  a  “union”  to  promote  your  welfare  and 
protect  your  interests? 

The  question  needs  simply  to  be  stated  thus  to  con¬ 
vince  us  that  the  contention  of  the  men  is  just;  pro¬ 
vided  it  be  true  that  the  Traction  Compan}’’  has  denied 
them  the  privilege  of  laboring  upon  the  street  lines 
if  they  join  the  union,  or  continue  therein.  The  Com¬ 
pany  has  not  denied  and  cannot  deny  this;  and  stands 
convicted  of  having  committed  a  wrong  which  should 
at  once  be  righted;  a  wrong  against  which  the  men  are 
fully  justified  in  protesting;  a  wrong 'which  should 
be  rebuked  by  every  good  citizen;  and  should  be 

*The  objects  of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Street  Car 
Employes  of  America,  are  stated  as  follows,  in  Sections  i  and  2 
of  Article  II  of  its  Constitution: 

I.  *‘To  organize  Division  Associations.’’ 

•.  “To  place  our  occupation  upon  a  high  plane  of  intelligence,  effi¬ 
ciency,  and  skill;  to  encourage  the  formation  in  Division  Associations  of 
Sick  Benefit  Funds;  to  establish  schools  of  instruction  and  examination, 
for  imparting  a  practical  knowledge  of  modern  and  improved  methods  and 
systems  of  transportation,  and  trade  matters  generally  ;  to  encourage  the 
settlement  of  all  disputes  between  employes  and  employers  by  arbi¬ 
tration  ;  to  secure  employment  and  adequate  pay  for  our  work  ;  to  reduce 
the  hours  of  daily  labor  ;  and  by  all  legal  and  proper  means  to  elevate  our 
»oral,  intellectual  and  social  condition." 


23 


made  impossible  by  the  laws  of  the  Municipality  and 
Commonwealth.  Capital  has  its  rights,  as  well  as 
labor,  and  those  rights  and  privileges  must  be  main¬ 
tained.  But  the  attempt  of  capitalists  to  prevent  or 
abridge  the  rights  of  laborers,  can  only  react  against 
themselves.  * 


II. 

Exckssivk  Hours  of  Labor. 

Second,  the  next  wrong  against  which  the  men  pro¬ 
test  is  the  excessive  hotifs  of  labor.  They  ask  that  their 
service  may  be  limited  to  ten  hours  a  day.  Is  that 
unreasonable?  Where  is  a  workman  who  does  not 
make  a  similar  claim?  And  where  are  the  employers 
of  labor  who  have  not  cheerfully  conceded  the  demand? 

You,  manufacturers  and  merchants,  w’ho  are  now 
listening  to  these  words,  ask  nothing  more  than  that 
of  your  employes !  Is  it  proposed  to  give  this  great 
Traction  Company,  which  through  the  action  of  our 
Councils  (wise  or  unwise  it  is  not  now  needful  to  dis¬ 
cuss)  has  obtained  the  valuable  monopoly  for  their 
traffic  of  our  public  highways,  a  right  over  labor  that 
far  transcends  your  own?  Are  they  so  much  better 
than  you,  that  they  may  throw  the  city  into  confusion, 
and  deprive  us  of  the  accustomed  use  of  our  high¬ 
ways,  simply  because  they  are  so  remorselessly  bent 

*  The  spirit  of  the  Amalgamated  Association  is  shown  by  a 
resolution  adopted  at  its  late  convention,  as  follows: 

“  Resolved^  That  we  hold  it  as  a  sacred  principle  that  trade- 
union  men,  above  all  others,  should  set  a  good  example  as  good 
and  faithful  workmen,  performing  their  duties  to  their  employ¬ 
ers  with  honor  to  themselves  and  their  organization.  We  hold 
that  a  reduction  of  hours  for  a  day’s  work  increases  the  intelli¬ 
gence  and  happiness  of  the  laborer,  and  also  increases  the 
demands  for  labor  and  the  price  of  a  day’s  work.” — From  Pam¬ 
phlet  I  of  the  Toynbee  Society  of  Philadelphia, 


24 


upon  grinding  out  of  their  employes  the  utmost  pos^ 
sible  service?  Why  do  they  not  yield  to  the  demand 
which  every  manufacturer,  merchant  and  employer  of 
labor  within  the  Commonwealth,  themselves  excepted, 
has  long  ago  admitted  to  be  just  and  equal?  What 
has  that  Company  done  for  us;  what  especial  spirit  of 
devotion  to  the  city  has  it  shown;  what  gifts  and 
graces  has  it  displayed  to  entitle  it  to  this  superior 
privilege? 

I  go  further.  The  demand  of  the  men  is  in  accordance 
with  the  safety  of  the  public\  and  it  is  in  equal  accord 
with  the  best  interests  of  the  Traction  Company  itself. 
Why  do  I  say  that?  Last  spring,  for  reasons  which 
need  not  be  explained,  I  began  an  investigation  as  to 
the  effects  of  electric  motor  service  upon  the  motormen. 
This  led  me  to  ride  to  and  fro  upon  the  various  lines 
of  this  city  seated  next  the  front  door,  where  I  could 
keep  the  motorman  in  view.  It  was  balmy  weather, 
the  door  was  open,  and  nothing  obstructed  vision. 
This  is  what  was  seen :  As  every  crossing  was  neared, 
the  motorman ’s  arms  assumed  that  physical  tension 
displayed  by  an  animal  on  guard  against  anticipated 
danger.  Every  vehicle  that  crossed  the  pathway 
showed  a  manifest  shock  upon  the  nerves.  Children 
ran  across  the  street,  in  that  provoking  w’ay  which 
youngsters  have;  adult  pedestrians  lagged  over  the 
crossing  in  pure  idiotic  bravado  or  stubbornness,  as 
though  seeking  to  pass  the  limit  of  the  track  at  the 
last  moment  possible.  At  each  one  of  these  and  like 
continually  recurring  incidents,  the  motorman’s  mus¬ 
cular  action  showed  the  vivid  alertness  and  agitation 
of  his  mind. 

As  the  car  came  to  the  more  crowded  portions  of  the 
city,  these  continuous  shocks  upon  the  S3’stem  were 
repeated.  The  man  seemed  to  be  living  in  a  constant 
terror ;  continually  on  guard  against  impending  danger 


25 


to  life  and  property,  in  which  he  knew  his  own 
interests  were  closely  involved.  Thus  it  w'as  all  the 
way  from  West  Philadelphia  station  to  the  Delaware, 
and  back  again. 

In  a  quiet  way,  without  indicating  that  I  had  any 
special  purpose  in  view,  I  have  conversed  with  a 
number  of  these  men.  They  made  the  statement  that 
by  the  time  they  had  gone  the  round  trip  they  were 
as  tired  as  if  they  had  done  a  half  day’s  hard  work. 
They  did  not  know  why  they  w^ere  so  tired.  They 
did  not  go  into  the  philosophy  or  psychology  or  phy¬ 
siology  of  the  fact,  but  they  knew  they  were  often 
nearly  w^orn  out.  And  this  is  a  common  if  not  the 
general  experience.  Some  men  w'ho  had  acted  as 
motormen,  stalwart  fellows  as  they  were,  have  told  me 
they  had  to  give  it  up;  they  could  not  stand  it!  Why? 
I  will  teil  you. 

In  these  modern  times,  science  has  taught  us  that 
every  action  of  the  mind,  every  impulse  of  the  affec 
tions,  every  throb  of  anxiety  and  grief,  is  resolvable 
into  teynis  oj  measiirahle  inusailar  action.  Thinking 
tires  a  man  as  quickly  as  if  he  were  pounding  stone 
upon  the  highway,  and  in  part  for  the  same  reason, 
physical  exertion.  That  drain  upon  the  muscular 
energy  is  greater  when  labor,  whether  mental  or  man¬ 
ual,  is  associated  with  agitation  of  any  kind.  It  fol¬ 
lows  that  the  muscular  strain  and  drain  upon  the  man 
who  has  to  drive  a  street  car  over  crowded  streets,  is 
more  exhausting  than  almost  any  other  service.  Ten 
hours’  work  of  that  nature  is  more  than  any  man 
ought  to  be  put  to.  Twelve  hours  as  now  required  is 
an  outrage  upon  humanity  1  Eight  hours  is  enough 
for  any  ordinary  man.  So  our  Councils  should  deter¬ 
mine!  So  would  the  Traction  Company  voluntarily 
determine  if  they  were  wise  men,  as  well  as  kind. 
Beyond  these  limits  the  nerves  become  so  sliattered, 


26 


and  the  mind  becomes  so  ‘  ‘rattled,  ’  *  to  use  an  expres¬ 
sive  popular  phrase,  that  the  man  ought  to  be  taken 
off  to  get  necessary  rest. 

This  ought  to  be  done  out  of  regard  to  the  public 
safety.  It  ought  to  be  done  for  the  private  interests  of 
the  corporators  themselves.  The  men,  therefore, 
in  asserting  that  ten  hours  a  day  is  just  and  equal 
service,  have  not  made  an  unreasonable  claim.  The 
only  fault  to  be  found  with  it  is  that  that  maximum  of 
service  is  two  hours  too  high.  It  passes  the  danger 
line  to  the  community',  the  line  beyond  wdiich  no  one 
ought  to  be  permitted  to  man  a  motor-car,  and  drive 
it  with  its  possibilities  of  damage  through  crowded 
streets. 

III. 

Duty  and  Right  of  Citizens. 

The  citizens  of  Philadelphia  are  bound  to  use  their 
personal  and  associated  influence  to  remedy  these  evils, 
because  of  the  fact  that  these  7nen  ajid  their  eynployers 
hold  close  relations  to  the  city.  They  are  in  a  sense  part 
of  the  communal  service.  The  granting  of  our  high¬ 
ways  to  transportation  companies  carries  with  it  a 
responvSibility  different  from  that  of  ordinary  corpora¬ 
tions.  The  corporators  become  substantially  a  part  of 
the  municipal  government.  They  are  servants  of  the 
public.  Those  whom  they  employ  belong  in  a  sense, 
at  least,  to  the  civil  service. 

We  are,  therefore,  entitled  as  citizens,  to  express 
and  to  enforce  our  opinions.  We  are  not  meddlers 
when  we  speak  out  our  mind.  We  are  doing  our 
duty  as  citizens  of  the  community.  The  truth  is, 
there  are  wrongs  which  ought  to  be  righted,  which 
have  grown  up  around  all  semi-public  institutions  and 
corporations,  such  as  street  railways,  steam  rail¬ 
roads,  electric  light  companies,  gas  companies. 


27 


the  police  and  park  guard  management,  whOvSe  oper¬ 
ations  are  continuous  seven  da3^s  in  the  week.  A 
pastor  is  in  a  position  to  know  these  things.  The}’ 
come  to  him  from  the  families  of  the  poor  and  op¬ 
pressed;  from  the  burdened  hearts  of  wives;  from 
men  broken  down  through  sickness;  from  those  who 
are  striving  for  a  Christian  life,  but  whose  privileges 
of  worship  are  abridged  or  wholly  lost.  They  come  in 
many  ways  that  need  not  here  be  named,  but  they  come. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  city  pastor  knows  the  spirit  of 
most  of  these  semi-public  corporations  and  institu¬ 
tions.  I  regret  to  say  that  among  them  all,  the  Unions 
Traction  Company  appears  to  me  to  have  the  least 
sense  of  responsibility  toward  its  men;  to  be  least 
responsive  to  those  ordinary  feelings  of  humanity,  and 
those  sacred  promptings  of  conscience,  which  ought 
to  animate  all  men. 

I  know  personally  only  one  gentleman  connected 
with  that  corporation,  and  that  acquaintance  presents 
a  character  which  would  seem  to  be  just  the  opposite 
of  this,  kindly  and  conscientious.  But  men,  in  their 
corporate  capacity  and  relations,  are  often  very  differ¬ 
ent  from  the  same  men  in  their  personal,  social  and 
domestic  relations.  The  fact  that  some  good  and 
kindly  men  are  members  of  a  corporation  does  not 
necessarily  hinder  the  fact  that  that  corporation  may 
be  an  oppressor  of  its  employes,  and  an  intruder  upon 
the  rights  of  the  public. 


IV. 

Remedy? — Not  Strikes,  but  Votes. 

Another  thing  I  would  like  to  say,  and  I  would 
say  it  with  the  utmost  emphasis  if  I  could  get,  as  I 
am  not  likely  to  get,  the  hearing  of  the  conductors 


28 


and  motormen.  The  redress  of  your  wrongs  is  in  your 
own  hands  and  that  of  your  fellow  laborers.  A  per¬ 
manent  remedy  will  never  come  through  strikes,  how¬ 
ever  justifiable  they  may  seem.  They  generally  cost 
more  than  they  gain.  They  always  leave  remainders 
of  bitterness  and  passion,  which  disturb  the  kind  and 
just  relations  which  ought  to  exist  between  employer 
and  employe.  They  open  the  gate  to  many  forms  of 
lawlessness,  and  give  opportunity  to  the  disorderly, 
idle,  and  criminal  classes  to  war  upon  the  stability 
of  society.  They  thus,  by  natural  reflex,  throw  upon 
innocent  strikers  the  burden,  responsibility  and  ill- 
name  of  the  evil  deeds  which  are  wrought  under  cover 
of  their  actions.  They  are  even  incentives  to  the  evil 
disposed  ifi  the  ranks  of  the  strikers  to  commit  deeds 
of  violence  and  revenge.  They  plant  the  seeds  of  hatred 
against  capital  and  capitalists,  and  thus  lay  the  foun¬ 
dations  for  greater  suffering  and  wrong  to  be  inflicted 
upon  the  laboring  men  themselves.  A  strike,  like 
war,  should  be  the  last  resort  as  it  commonly  is  the 
most  disastrous. 

The  remedy  for  your  grievances  must  come  through 
the  public  will  as  expressed  in  the  laws!  Let  the  strikers 
ask  themselves  seriously :  How  comes  it  that  a  great 
corporation  can  with  impunity  flout  and  snub  the 
most  prominent  of  its  representative  citizens,  when 
they  come  to  protest  against  the  violation  of  compacts, 
and  the  plundering  of  the  public  by  increased  fares? 
How  comes  it  that  it  can  burden  its  employes  with 
oppressive  hours  of  toil,  and  rob  them  of  their  rights 
as  free  citizens,  and  defy  the  well- nigh  universal  public 
opinion  thereon?  How  comes  it  that  this  company 
can  plunge  a  city  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  souls  into 
incalculable  loss  and  inconvenience,  rather  than  3d  eld 
to  a  demand  which  every  manufacturer,  merchant  and 
employer  of  labor  deems  reasonable,  just  and  kind  to 


29 


his  employes,  though  he  gets  no  public  privileges, 
nor  valuable  franchises  thereby?  Why  are  these 
things  possible  in  Philadelphia?  Because  the  electors 
or  their  political  bosses  have  put  and  kept  within  the 
State  Legislature  and  the  City  Councils  men,  the  ma¬ 
jority  of  whom  are  as  puppets  in  the  hands  of  great 
corporations ! 

These  political  bosses  are  the  true  oppressors  of  the 
laborer.  What  care  they  for  the  workman’s  rights  or 
wrongs,  if  their  own  nest  be  feathered?  Laborers  of 
Philadelphia,  conductors,  motormen  or  others!  when 
you  are  prepared  to  break  your  unholy  alliance  with 
these  bosses,  great  and  small,  when  you  are  ready  to 
break  the  partisan  bonds  that  bind  you  hand  and  foot, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  will  you  be  able  to  deliver 
yourself  from  the  oppression  against  which  you  strike. 
When  you  are  ready  to  put  out  of  power  the  men  who 
have  betrayed  you;  when  you  are  ready  to  turn  a  deaf 
ear  to  their  honeyed  words  and  claims  of  good  com¬ 
radeship;  when  you  are  ready  to  unite  and  put  into 
State  Legislature  and  Councils  men  of  probity,  and 
high  character,  men  who  are  beyond  the  need  and 
reach  of  gain,  men  who  are  your  true  friends  and 
friends  of  reform — then  you  will  not  need  to  strike 
for  the  simplest  rights  and  against  the  plainest 
wrongs!  Will  you  do  this?  Alas,  I  doubt  it!  The 
danger  once  over,  the  old  masters  with  their  wheed¬ 
ling;  words,  and  feigned  good-fellowship  will  clap  you 
on  the  back,  and  appeal  to  3^our  fidelity  to  ‘  ‘  the  party  ’  ’ 
and  lure  you  to  thrust  your  hands  into  the  same  old 
shackles!  Am  I  wrong?  I  hope  so,  indeed! 

Your  blows  for  liberty  should  begin  at  the  primary 
elections !  The  real  battle  should  be  fought  there  and 
at  the  polls.  No  great  corporations  would  dare  or 
will  dare  oppress  you  or  other  citizens  when  it 
knows  that  a  wise,  patriotic  and  incorruptible  State 


30 


and  Municipal  Legislature  holds  them  in  its  hands, 
and  will  fearlessly  exercise  its  power  in  the  interests 
of  all  the  people. 

There  is  the  root  of  all  your  wrongs.  Your  strikes 
will  only  be  a  trimming  and  clipping  off  the  exuber¬ 
ant  top-growth  among  the  branches,  unless  and  until 
you  are  prepared  to  lay  the  axe  remorselessly  at  the 
very  foot  and  root  of  the  tree. 


Your  sure  and  easting  Redress  wiee  come 
THROUGH  Votes,  not  Strikes! 


r 


